Officers had recommended members of North Norfolk District Council’s development committee should approve the building to the north of Cromer cemetery on Holt Road.

But nearby homeowners and businesses spoke out against the development at yesterday’s meeting, raising concerns about it becoming an eyesore and creating extra traffic.

And Julie Davis, whose husband is buried in Cromer’s cemetery, said it lacked sensitivity for those already buried.

She said: “My husband was able to choose the plot in peace and quiet beside the woods he so loved, is it too much to ask for consideration for all the families who wish to have the choice to be buried alongside their loved ones?”

Councillors yesterday voted to defer the decision to a later date, suggesting crematorium developers Westerleigh again met with the owners of a nearby woodland burial site in Aylmerton to discuss a shared site.

Benjie Cabbell Manners, a nearby farmer and a member of the council not on the planning committee, said if there was to be a crematorium in Cromer it should be done properly.

He said: “Realistically we have now been told there is going to be eight services a day.

“If you don’t do something about that road you are going to get proper hold-ups of people waiting.”

More than 480 people, including the National Trust, had objected to the project, primarily due to its location in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

What is your view on the crematorium? Email sabah.meddings@archant.co.uk